Small Earthquake Shakes The Area

A minor, 3.6 magnitude earthquake shook the Baltimore/Washington D.C.-area residents out of bed early Friday morning – a rare occurrence for the nation’s east coast dwellers.

From Baltimore City to the Maryland suburb of Bethesda and the Virginia suburb of Arlington all reported feeling the tremor, which the U.S. Geological Survey said was centered 20 miles northwest of the nation’s capital in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, only surprised people being woken up at just past 5 a.m. Eastern time.

Lucille Baur, public information officer for the Montgomery County Police Department, said the department received a lot of calls from people wondering what had happened.

Baur said her husband woke up when the quake struck.

“At first he thought it was a big truck going through,” she said. “He felt the house shake and the windows rattle a little bit.”